Oh, Phil, I agree that caution is warranted, which is why I've
been a lot more careful than some people (including Bill Kristol)
about flatly declaring that the Thomas stories were fake. But I do
think that the Beauchamp/Reeve connection is better documented than
you imply (I linked to Ace because he seemed to have it first, but
there's corroborating evidence at other sites, including a connection between Beauchamp and Reeve that goes
back to 2004), and I do think it's relevant; it gives some insight
into the office politics behind TNR's raise-the-drawbridge
handling of the controversy.